


A Simple Assignment

by kolis10



Series: Trophy Case [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Amnesia, Avengers as dolls, BAMF Steve Rogers, Canon-Typical Violence, Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Pietro Maximoff Lives, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), dollhouse - Freeform, tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 01:20:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6353266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kolis10/pseuds/kolis10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just a simple assignment for Steve but no one technically said it would be easy. With robotic birds, a perplexing scientist, & an unexpected obstacle to deal with, it's not exactly that simple either is it? Either way he'll do whatever it takes to complete the mission, & with his partner at his side it shouldn't be too difficult.</p>
<p>A.K.A. Part 1 of the Avengers-Dollhouse Fusion that I'm not sure anyone ever even considered wanting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Simple Assignment

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys haven't seen Dollhouse, I seriously recommend it. If you haven't though, hopefully I can write well enough that it shouldn't be an issue. Also, fair warning, Steve & Brock are shamelessly flirty in this. Also they're relationship, as the story goes along you'll find it's even more messed up than you might be thinking.

A simple assignment, just like any other; that’s what he’d been told going into this. Steve snorts to himself as he looks over the security of the bunker through his binoculars. Motion detectors, spotlights, armed guards patrolling the perimeter; this was all standard stuff. What isn’t standard are the large mechanical birds circling overhead; clearly very advanced, like something Tony would design had he felt so inclined. There were only six of them & they didn’t seem like anything Steve couldn’t handle; still, if he didn’t know about them then his partner might not either. Steve taps his earpiece.

“Rumlow, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“If you’re referring to the tin turkeys, then yeah” replies a familiar gruff voice.

Steve chuckles softly as he responds “Turkeys don’t fly.”

“They also aren’t gold plated with machine guns under their wings; what are we gonna do about ‘em?”

“Well, I suppose I could draw some of the attention in my direction” Steve drawls with a long suffering sigh, though he’s certain his partner has a grin on his face to match his own “Of course that would also mean the target would be moved to a more secure part of the compound.”

“Which would make it that much harder to retrieve the information” Rumlow points out, his voice laced with anticipation.

Steve smiles as he sprints towards the compound at his inhuman pace.

“I wonder how long it’ll take you to reach the target after I’ve taken out those birds.”

“What makes you think I won’t get to the target first?”

“Well for one thing, you can be pretty slow old man. Also…” without breaking stride Steve leaps over the electrified fence & throws his shield which rebounds off of three guards before returning to him “I’ve already started.”

And if there was any doubt left towards that statement it is quickly shattered when an alarm blares throughout the compound. The searchlights all focus on Steve as he runs towards a truck that is parked near the bunker. He can hear a mechanized cawing sound as he dodges the spray of bullets, but he doesn’t let that stop him. He flings his shield at a space on the wall of the bunker above the truck; when the shield returns he hits that same spot again & once more. Finally he jumps on the hood of the truck & leaps, using himself & his shield as a battering ram to burst through the wall into the upper floor of the bunker.

Steve finds himself in an unremarkable white hallway with three armed guards. Now for this next part Steve would like to accredit his enhanced reflexes, but he can’t deny that it’s probably the fact that they just witnessed a man crash through the second story wall of a secure bunker & are having a serious WTF moment that allows him to take out the first two with his 9mm & slam the third into a wall with his shield before they can react.

Steve checks the third man’s body – unconscious- ugh. The whole reason he kept him alive was to get information out of him. But Steve doesn’t have time to be pissed off because two of the mechanical birds have made their way into the hole he’s created & have their guns aimed at him.

But they’re not firing & it doesn’t take him long to realize why; the unconscious guard’s body hangs limply between them, a human shield. Three thoughts enter Steve’s mind at this time. _1) The birds can tell that he’s still alive. 2)  They aren’t willing to commit friendly fire, even to stop an intruder; pretty noble birds. 3) Should I really be taking advantage of this fact?_ Steve smiles to himself. _Brock isn’t gonna like this._

Steve hefts the body up & flings it at the birds, effectively trapping one of them underneath, but the other is able to hover out of the way & is instantly shooting at him leaving Steve to retreat backwards, blocking the bullets with his shield, because as it happens, this random hallway doesn’t leave much room for evasive maneuvers.

As Steve makes his way back he tries to unload his gun into the bird’s face; unfortunately the shield & endless stream of bullets both do a pretty damn good job of messing up his shots. It’s all pretty embarrassing, so of course…

“How’re you doing over there, babe?” Brock casually chimes in through the earpiece.

“Oh, just peachy; how about you?”

“I’m making pretty good time; I’ve already got the target’s location &… hold on a sec” Two gunshots, thud “I’m on my way there now; sub-basement, east side through a lab elevator.”

“Copy that” Steve grits out.

“Are you sure you don’t need backup” Rumlow asks, amused condescension dripping from his voice “I can finish up here if you really need this old man to come save your ass.”

“Just focus on the objective & I’ll try not to show you up too badly.”

Steve finally reaches a corner but grimaces when he hears the sound of boots quickly stomping towards him, & as if that wasn’t bad enough, the other bird has managed to make its way out from under the guard.

“Shit!” Rumlow’s voice sounds strained over the microphone causing Steve to stop in his tracks.

“Br- Rumlow, what’s wrong?” he hisses.

“Some of those robotic birds got in here too, they’re blocking my way.”

“I’ll be right there”

“No, the information is the priority!” Rumlow barks out, but then more gently, “I’ll get myself out of this; you just need to extract the info & get out of there in one piece.”

“…Affirmative. You better not get yourself killed.”

“Yeah; same to you.”

Then there’s silence. _Looks like distraction time’s over._

In one swift movement Steve holsters his gun, unclips a grenade from his tac-belt & lobs it towards the two birds, who have just enough time to recognize what exactly it is before being engulfed in flames. Lucky the shield is enough to protect him from the brunt of the blast before he rushes around the corner into the foray of guards, where he proceeds to utilize it, once again, as a battering ram. Steve’s often wondered why most people don’t use shields like these in combat; it’s just so useful.

Now that it’s fallen to him to rescue Brock; on the way to retrieving the information of course, Steve kicks it into gear & soon finds himself in a lab on the east side of the bunker. Unfortunately the place has been deserted, but he forces himself to calm down & search until he finds a secret panel that reveals the elevator. At first he is apprehensive about stepping inside before he sees the device that Brock used to hack the elevator still hooked up for him. ‘ _Sloppy_ ’ Steve thinks as he smiles to himself.

The sub-basement must be deeper than he thought because the elevator ride takes a while before the elevator stops. Where the upper levels were all white tile & sliding glass, this place was grey cement & metal doors. Were they trying to keep something out; or in?

He doesn’t have enough intel on this part of the base to know which of the possible locations the information could be being held, but he does have a convenient trail of bodies to follow. Thanks again Brock. Not that he needs it for long. Soon enough the sounds of a firefight can be heard, the sound of the birds’ gunfire & metallic cawing unmistakable. Brock’s in there. But it’s not Steve’s place to step in; he needs to complete the mission & Rumlow can take care of himself.

From the schematics of the building & their current position Steve figures out where the target is most likely being held & a way to get there without being seen. He doubles back down the hallway until he comes to what should be a weapon’s storage room given the complexity of the door & lock compared to the other doors down there. Luckily whoever contracted them also thought to give them the passcodes.

When he punches in the last digit the metal door doesn’t unlock like Steve expects it too; in fact the handle retreats into the door, which itself opens up from the middle like an elevator, the seam separating the two halves appearing from nowhere.

The room is much more high tech & sterile than the outside would suggest. The weapons on the rack all look much more advanced than anything the guards outside have been using; _what a waste_.

Steve picks out a particularly nice looking plasma rifle. It’s heavy, probably meant to be mounted to something but Steve simply hefts it up with both hands & fires straight at the far wall of the room, blasting a huge hole in it.

Once he’s opened up a new exit he’s able to circumvent the room where Rumlow & the birds are; ignoring the sounds of struggle. Finally he reaches a large open room where a timid man in a white coat, who Steve immediately recognizes from the briefing as Dr. Hugo Frieze, types away at a computer console along the wall. In the large window above the console is an imposing looking machine; interesting, but not mission-relevant.

Another interesting thing however, is the singular man guarding the good doctor. Steve takes on look at the goggles & metal backpack & suddenly it becomes clear whose pets they’ve been dealing with.

“Excuse me” calls out Steve as he boldly steps out into the open “You’re Falcon, aren’t you? What are The Avengers doing in a place like this?”

Falcon coolly raises an eyebrow & replies, “I think the better question is; what are you doing here?” but then his goggled gaze drifts to Steve’s arm “And where did you get that?”

Steve follows the superhero’s gaze down to his red & black striped shield.

“Oh” he gapes in surprise as he lifts the shield up, showing it off, an admittedly dopey smile adorning his face.

“Do you like it? It was a gift.”

It wasn’t often that people commented on his shield, unless you counted cries of pain when it slammed into them. Cheesy as it was, it’s sort of Steve’s prized possession. Steve decides that he likes the Falcon. Too bad he’ll probably have to kill him.

“Yeah; friend of mine had one just like it.”

And suddenly Steve’s dopey grin becomes a predatory smirk. “Is that so? Maybe you should take a closer look.”

And then the shield is flying towards them. Doctor Frieze dives to the ground even though Steve specifically threw it so that it wouldn’t hit the man. Falcon though; in retrospect, Steve really should’ve anticipated it when two wings unfold from the backpack & have him twelve feet in the air before the shield can even reach the target.

And suddenly Steve is being shot at; again. Except this time, instead of deflecting bullets, his shield is lodged in the glass & metal of a computer screen. Steve’s only option is to run for cover, except there is no cover, so really his only option is to run around like a chicken with its head cut off. For the first time tonight he’s very glad that Brock’s in another room fighting mechanical turkeys.

He winces as a bullet grazes his side through his black tac-suit. _Enough of this_. Steve reaches into his belt, pulls out a magnetic zip-line  & fires at Falcon’s wing. Only, Falcon seems to anticipate this & simply glides to the side & continues firing. _Okay, plan B_. Steve turns away from Falcon and lobs something towards Dr. Frieze who had smartly tried to crawl away from the battle unnoticed. Steve wishes he could draw the looks on his  & Falcon’s face when the grenade rolls to a stop right in front of his path.

Of course the Falcon immediately flies over to scoop up the grenade & chuck it to the other side of the room, trying to shield the doctor from the blast. Except that blast never comes, & while Falcon is distracted with the dummy grenade, Steve retrieves his shield.

He smiles when Falcon realizes what has happened.

“What do you say; round two?”

Before he can give an answer the main doors to the room are blown open & through them walks a man in full combat gear with a helmet done up like a skull, vicious looking hydraulic gauntlets on his arms, & right on his chest plate lays a white X. Brock, except it’s not Brock, not when he’s like this- right now he’s Crossbones.

Steve is left forgotten as Falcon’s gaze is locked on his partner & for the first time since Steve’s arrival, the superhero seems to have lost his cool.

“YOU!” he snarls.

“Me” Crossbones replies mockingly.

It’s at this time that the doctor finally manages to escape through the security door on the other side. No matter; Steve’s too pumped to go after him now, plus with him & Crossbones against Falcon, Doctor Frieze won’t get very far at all.

“Go take care of that, will ya” Crossbones orders him.

Steve huffs. _So much for that plan_.

“Hey, I was already fighting the Avenger before you showed up, so why don’t I finish up here while you go after the doctor?”

“This isn’t open for discussion Soldier; your mission is to extract the information so go do it.”

Steve crosses his arms & huffs once again, this time in defeat. “I need the thing.”

Crossbones tosses a small black metal cylinder to Steve who catches it easily with his free hand. He spares one last look at the two other men before running towards the security door. Falcon, apparently tired of being ignored, gets back into the air & aims his guns at Steve.

“You’re not going anywhere, especially not with that shield!”

Before Falcon can fire at Steve, Crossbones is firing at him, giving Steve the opening to pursue the doctor.

Honestly, Steve had expected to find the doctor trying to exit the bunker or at least make his way to some type of panic room. Instead he’s in a lab typing furiously at another computer. Steve casually knows a beaker to the floor; the loud crash effectively gets the doctor’s attention.

“You know, most people in this situation would probably have focused their efforts on escaping.”

Doctor Frieze gives an annoyed snort before returning to his typing.

“My work here is much more important than my life.”

“It seems that’s something you & my employer agree upon.” Steve says as he walks up behind the doctor “In fact they’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that I collect both.”

Doctor Frieze spins around & glares straight into the taller man’s eyes.

“Do you even know what this information could do in the wrong hands?”

“It’s not my job to know” Steve answers coolly.

“You’re a fool if you think it’s that simple.”

“Maybe so, but that also isn’t my concern” Steve holds out the metal cylinder & slides his thumb across the length of it; it opens up to reveal a pair of sleek looking sunglasses.

“Put them on.” He orders.

Doctor Frieze breathes out slowly & raises the glasses to his face.

“Just try to relax” Steve whispers as he presses a button on the glasses.

Doctor Frieze’s whole body goes rigid as the glasses extract all knowledge pertaining to Project Ares from his head. When it is finished Steve retrieves the glasses & places them back in their case which instantly seals itself.

“Thank you for your cooperation Doctor.” He tells the blank faced man, right before shooting him between the eyes. Steve’s gaze shifts from the case in his hand to the body on the floor. No, he can’t let himself dwell on this. He presses his finger to his earpiece.

“I’ve retrieved the information. What’s your status?”

“I’m fine, but the Falcon few the coop.”

For some reason Steve really isn’t sure how he feels about that.

“What’s the status of our extraction?”

“Ready & waiting.”

With that the transmission is ended & Steve’s eyes start to drift back down. _Don’t look back Steve; you can get through anything as long as you can keep looking forward_. So he leaves.

When he & Brock exit the bunker the place is crawling with men who work for the employer. One of these men walks up to the pair of them.

“Where’s Doctor Frieze?”

“He’s dead” Steve answers bluntly “just like the employer wanted.”

“The employer _wanted_ the information about Project Ares; then Frieze was supposed to die.”

“Calm your tits” Crossbones interjects eloquently “As it so happens we extracted all of the necessary information beforehand.” Steve hands him the case with the glasses. The other agent tries to grab it from the assassin but only gets a snarl for his trouble. “I’ll be handing this to the employer personally, if you don’t mind.”

The agent clearly isn’t happy about this but he has enough sense not to pick a fight with someone with Crossbones’ reputation, so stalks off to bark orders at a group of his men.

At the same time, a black van pulls up to them & they step into the back.

After they’ve driven a mile in silence, Crossbones finally removes his helmet.

“I think that went well” he says with his perfect white smile. His face is covered with almost imperceptible lines that mark what must once have been terrible scarring. They cover his whole body, as Steve is well aware, but Brock doesn’t like to talk about how he got them, or how he got rid of them.

“Unless you count the part where an Avenger made you & then you allowed him to escape.”

“What’s got you in such a bitchy mood babe?

“I had him under control” Steve pouts “but then you came in & told me to go after the doctor, which I did because I trusted you to handle the situation. Not to mention the fact that you embarrassed me in front of a superhero.”

Rumlow’s face shifts from confusion to shock before being morphed by flat-out laughter.

“I… I embarrassed you?”

“Yes. I was doing just fine before you swooped in & ordered me out of the room. He probably thought that it was like you were saying I couldn’t handle it; like I’m just some sorta hitman wannabe.”

“Well to be fair, you don’t have much of a reputation”

“Brock” Steve warns.

“I’m sorry babe, it’s just that me & the Falcon, we have a history.”

“Really?” but then Steve remembers the way Falcon had reacted when Crossbones showed up, & the way he wanted to know about Steve’s shield. _Right, of course they do_.

Steve sighs, “Wasn’t this supposed to be a simple assignment?”

“If it really had turned out that way, all you would do is complain.”

Steve chuckles “Maybe.”

“So we’re gonna go back, get debriefed, then get you a treatment.”

Steve’s pout returns in full force.

“Do we have to do all that right away? I feel like I could run about fifty miles right now & I kinda had plans about what I wanted to do with all that pent up energy.” Strange, somehow Steve’s hand has found its way to Rumlow’s pant leg “What do you say; can we take a little detour?”

“Hmm… I think you’re right, we should take a detour.”

“Really?”

“Yeah” Rumlow jabs his gauntleted hand into Steve’s bleeding side, causing a grunt of pain to escape from his mouth “We gotta go get this stitched up.”

“It’ll heal on its own” Steve responds petulantly “it barely even grazed me.”

“I think that’s for the doctor to decide babe.”

Steve could argue, but it wouldn’t matter; in the end Steve always gives Brock what he wants.

_____________________________________________________

“Steve… Steve?” a familiar voices cuts through Steve’s unconsciousness. Slowly he tries to open his eyes.

“Earth calling Steve; are you awake”

Steve smiles at the young doctor as the chair he sits in elevates his head.

“Was I dreaming?” he asks Dr. Fringe.

“Only for a little while” she responds as she helps him up from the chair. Steve always felt that she was very relaxed for a doctor, if slightly neurotic; of course as she & Bruce love to put it, they’re not that kind of doctor. Still, Steve appreciates her attempts to lighten the mood when he wakes up from his treatments.

“May I go now?”

“If you wish.” She responds perfectly as she guides him to Brock who stands waiting by the door.

“Don’t go working him too hard you hear; he’s kinda fragile” she says to them with a naughty wink.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” Brock remarks confidently.

“I was talking to Steve.”

As she closes the door Steve simply smirks at the look on Brock’s face.

“Shut up”

When the reach Brock’s bedroom the first thing Steve does is spread himself out on the bed. He frowns when the baby blue pajama top rides up & he sees the bandage on his side.

“Rough night?” he asks.

Rumlow, who is still wearing a uniform, simply shrugs as he undresses. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”

Steve really hates when Rumlow tries to avoid talking about the missions he goes on, ‘cause it means there’s something he doesn’t want Steve to know.

“Are you all right?”

When he has donned his own sleepwear Rumlow crawls on top of Steve on the bed & holds the man’s face in his hands.

“I’m fine, you’re fine, everything’s fine.” And then he brings their lips together & after just a moment, Steve is kissing him back.

“I just get worried sometimes. I wake up & I have no idea where we’ve been; anything could’ve happened.” Steve’s gaze goes to the space between their chests before flicking back up to Brock’s face with a smile.

“Did you wear the costume?”

“First of all, it’s not a costume, it’s a uniform” Rumlow smiles as he sits up, straddling Steve’s hips “Secondly, I sometimes think you like Crossbones more than me.”

“Well I wouldn’t know” Steve states innocently “I never get to remember Crossbones.”

“Never seems to stop you from imagining me in the uniform, & all the things I’d do to you.”

“Hmm” Steve says contemplatively “Nah, I’m drawing a blank. Why don’t you give me some examples?”

Rumlow leans back down & strips Steve of his top.

“Really; would you like that?”

Then Steve wraps his arms around Brock’s neck.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

And the distance between their lips is once again extinguished.

______________________________________________________________

It was supposed to be a simple assignment. Guard Doctor Frieze while he extracted the data about Project Ares. But then Crossbones showed up, his Falconbots (as Tony had so elegantly christened them) got scrapped & everything went to hell.

Sam had barely managed to get away when that lunatic started chucking grenades everywhere, & unlike his friend, he didn’t use dummies.

Speaking of which…

“Are you sure there’s not some sort of problem with your goggles” Rhodes asks as they observe the footage from the fight from Sam’s perspective.

“They were working fine when I got here, but I am one hundred percent certain that the dude had a face.”

Crossbones’ mystery partner whose face on the video is just a smudged mess no matter what resolution they use.

“So if you saw his face clearly, what did he look like?” Miss Potts asks between sips of her espresso.

“That’s just it; I can’t remember” Sam scrubs his hand over his face & leans back against the conference room desk “I try to think back on it &…” he raises his hand to the screen “it’s all a blur.”

“It might be some sort of cloaking charm.” Wanda interjects “Did you feel anything else strange happen to you during the fight?”

“No, it was totally normal; except…”

Except for the huge elephant in the room.

“He had Steve’s shield, I know it was his. He said it was a gift.”

Pietro steps forward & squints at the man on the screen.

“So, you’re saying that Crossbones killed Steve, then stole his shield & gave it to this guy; as a gift?”

“I don’t think it’s just that.” Sam responds solemnly “The way this guy used it, the way he moved, & the way he acted; that was all Steve Rogers. At least it felt like him.”

The room is silent. This is why you don’t point out the elephant in the room.

Pepper walks over & puts a hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“I know you miss him, we all miss all of them but…”

The original six Avengers; all killed on the same day within minutes of each other.

“We never did find any of their bodies” Rhodey murmurs.

“Sam was there when Steve was shot” Pietro points out “I was there when Hawkeye died. And we all saw the footage of what happened to Tony. You don’t just come back after things like that.”

“Maybe not on your own.” Wanda whispers.

“I think it’s late & we’re all a little stressed out about this” Rhodey announces “We should all get some sleep.”

“Rhodey’s right” Pepper says, & then “FRIDAY can you shut this down please?”

After they all say their goodnights they head over to their rooms in the tower. When Sam gets to his he takes out his phone & dials a number he hasn’t used in a while. After a few minutes of no answer Sam hangs up but keeps staring at his phone. But then the phone rings in his hands; it’s a blocked number.

“Making a social call, Sam?” the man on the other end greets him.

“I saw Crossbones today. He & a friend of his killed a man I was trying to protect” Sam responds.

“What! Where are they?!” the other man seethes, & Sam swears he actually feel the anger radiating through the phone.

“They got away… The other guy had Steve’s shield; knew how to use it too.”

The only sound Sam can hear now is harsh breathing. Just as well; if he doesn’t get this next part out now, he might chicken out.

“When we looked through the footage of the fight on my goggles, the guys face was seriously distorted & I can’t remember what he actually looked like no matter how hard I try.”

“What are you trying to say Sam?”

“I don’t know what I’m trying to say, because the thing I think I’m trying to say, sounds too crazy to actually say.”

There is silence on the other line again.

“I know how you’re feeling right now; trust me I do, but we don’t have any idea what the hell is going on but we will get to the bottom of this. Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid okay.”

Silence.

“Barnes?”

“I won’t do anything stupid Sam. How can i; he took all the stupid with him.”

The call is ended without another word. Sam tosses his phone onto the dresser & flops down onto the bed.

“What the hell is going on here?”

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys like what I've got so far. This is just one of many types of missions that happen to the Trophies but it will tie back into the main plot later so I figured it was a good starting point. Obviously I've borrowed heavily from Dollhouse (At this point I think I might have to pay Joss Whedon royalties) but I've altered certain things to fit this 'verse. For example, in the Dollhouse they've had their personalities & memories removed from their heads & have new identities implanted in order to complete assignments. In the Trophycase they get to keep their base personalities & that is used as a foundation for the new identities the receive. So basically they're the same but different.  
> When they are not on a mission they are pretty much their old selves except much more docile without pesky things like memories, or a sense of right & wrong, or the ability to question the order's they're given. Strange, this is starting to sound familiar.  
> Also, the reason I had Steve ask "Was I dreaming" instead of "Did I fall asleep" is that, unlike the dolls, the trophies are aware that they have new memories implanted in them for assignments that are taken away after. They simply are incapable of questioning it.  
> Other things, like why Sam & Steve didn't recognize each other or how any of this happened in the first place will be answered later on.
> 
> Please comment or something if you fell inclined. Just so that I don't go crazy thinking no one's reading. Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip.


End file.
